SinC-Up Author QandA

September 15, 2014

I’m participating in the Sisters in Crime blog hop. Bloggers do not have to be members of Sisters in Crime, and there is no schedule to follow except to post in September. If you want to join in, visit: http://www.sistersincrime.org/BlogHop

So now to my Questions:

If someone said “Nothing against women writers, but all of my favorite crime fiction authors happen to be men,” how would you respond?

For me, the opposite is true. I read almost exclusively female mystery authors. Why? I like to identify with the heroine in a story, and so I prefer a female amateur sleuth. These stories are most often written by women but not always. I also prefer limited third person viewpoint in a whodunit so I’m in the sleuth’s head the whole way. This applies to a traditional mystery, not suspense or thrillers, where multiple viewpoints are common. Generally, I read cozies in the mystery genre. If I were reading a thriller, the writer’s gender wouldn’t matter.

What’s the best part of the writing process for you? What’s the most challenging?

The best part is when I’m midway through a story, and it just starts to flow. That’s when I feel as though I’m channeling the story. It’s in my head, and I just have to write it down. Beginnings are the hardest part because I don’t know the characters well enough yet.

What books are on your night stand right now?

Often I’ll read several books at once, picking up the one I’m in the mood for at the time. So now I have three different genre books on my night stand:

Severed Souls by Terry Goodkind is the latest installment in his popular epic fantasy series.

The Raven’s Wish by Susan King is a historical romance I pulled off my shelves.

Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen is a historical mystery in her Royal Spyness series.

As per the blop hop instructions, I am tagging author Terry Odell at http://terryodell.com/terrysplace/. Terry writes mysteries and romantic suspense and always posts useful information on her blog. She shares her notes from conferences and offers instructional writing articles along with recipes, interviews and other fun stuff. I always learn something from her posts.

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7 thoughts on “SinC-Up Author QandA”

It’s nice to see what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ in your writing. I think I read about the same female vs male mystery authors, but I certainly don’t let gender play a part if whether I pick up a book or not. It’s all about the storytelling and whether an author can make me connect with the characters.

Yes, this is true, but for me it’s more genre dependent. Most romances, for example, are written by women. Same goes for lighthearted, humorous mysteries, although I have read male authors I enjoy here too.

I recently wrote a blog about beginnings because for me, like you, they are the hardest part of a book to get right. My advice: go back after you’ve written the entire novel and revise the beginning. You might have to do it several times just to get it right–at least, I do.

I do several sweeps through a completed novel and always make changes. Sometimes I’ll even throw out the first few pages. But you need to get some distance from the story before being able to see what needs fixing. My first read-through is for detailed line editing. My second sweep is for continuity and cutting out repetitions. No matter how many times I read it, there are always corrections. Getting it just right at the start is critically important, especially with Amazon’s free sampling of a work.